


To Kill A Queen

by NotQuiteHumanAnymore



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-03 02:16:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11522439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotQuiteHumanAnymore/pseuds/NotQuiteHumanAnymore
Summary: Jean Grey is an assassin sent to kill the White Queen.She abruptly realizes that she is terrible at her job, given the fact that she winds up saving Emma's life, instead.





	To Kill A Queen

"I'm going to kill the queen," Jean remembers saying the words with such conviction. She remembers the fury that had risen in her, the sense of righteousness that came with the idea. She had known, then, that the queen needed to be removed from power, and if the best way to do so was through removing her head? Then Jean would be more than happy to oblige. 

But that conviction had gotten lost along the way, somewhere between realizing that the queen  wasn't the cold blooded mercenary the world made her out to be, and realizing that she was just as lost as Jean was.

That had happened before Emma had looked Jean in the eyes, an icy defiance in her posture, and asked if she was there to kill Emma, too.

Before Jean had made the reckless decision, based on the opinion that if anyone got to kill Emma, it would be her, and kidnapped her instead.

As much as Jean hated to admit it, this loss of conviction, this realization that Emma had become, to her, more than a figurehead to displace... That had all come to pass before she had leapt in front of Jean, turning herself in, throwing herself to the people who had been aiming to kill her long before the Professor even wondered if assassination might just be the solution.

Her desire to kill the queen was as stagnant as the pool of water in front of her. Killed by that defiance, by the soft words and smirks that had given way to genuine smiles in Jean's presence. It had been shrouded and buried deep by the feeling of Emma's lips on hers, of the light that Jean felt when Emma turned to her, changed, turned half-feral by their shared time in the woods, but no less beautiful, no less regal than the day they had met.

Jean unburied that murderous rage, unwrapped it from the shroud it had been lain to rest in with delicate hands. She adjusted her grip on her knife, once again hidden in the guise of a serving girl, and she walked into the palace, unencumbered by the guards in her path. They would all be dead soon, anyway. Even if she was too late to save Emma, those guards would not be leaving the palace in one piece.

The chaos of a feast, a welcoming party for Emma, was precisely the cover that Jean needed. She slipped through the halls- what alarm would another servant running around in the chaos raise?- Her feet following the path she had memorized so many months ago. 

She almost didn't want to open the heavy door that lead to Emma's rooms. What if she were to find an empty shell? Blood stained tapestries, or a poisoned cup lying on the stone floor? Her hand hesitated above the iron of the door handle, her mind's eye filling with possibilities that she did not want to face.

But if Emma was alive, if Emma needed her, then Jean couldn't just turn her back and stuff her fingers in her ears. She pulled the door open and ducked out of the way, the knife clattering from her fingers as she dodged the pot that had been flung her way.

“Emma!” She cried, focusing on the room around her, her searching eyes looking for any trace of a threat and finding only Emma.

Emma, who was staring at her with a mixture of rage and relief that only she seemed to be able to pull off. She stared at Jean, some of the rage dissipating as she recognized Jean. Her eyes softened, but not all of the rigidity left her shoulders, or her smile. Jean found that she couldn’t look away, either. She hadn’t been too late, as she’d feared. Emma was alive, standing in front of her. The silence stretched for a moment before Emma found the words to break it.

“Are you here to kill me, too?” Emma asked, again, her fingers spasming around another improvised weapon. Jean had to smile at her tenacity.  

“Not this time,” Jean responded, finding both her voice and her feet, crushing bits of pottery beneath her boots as she crossed the room, pulling Emma into her arms. 

Emma dropped the box she’d been holding at the ready, but Jean barely heard it as it clattered to the ground behind her, her mind too focused on Emma, alive. Emma, burying her face in Jean’s hair, her hands grasping at the back of Jean’s robe as if she’d been afraid that  _ Jean _ was at the risk of being assassinated. Jean allowed them to stand like that for a few moments more, though the seconds ticking by were all filled with the potential to be caught. Emma heaved a shuddering sigh and Jean stepped back, surprised to see the hunger in Emma’s eyes. Her eyes were devouring Jean, like she couldn’t really be certain that she was here, that Jean had come back for her. Instinctively, Jean reached out and brushed her fingers across Emma’s cheek. 

“You never cease to surprise, Jeannie.” Emma murmured, turning and pressing a kiss against Jean’s palm. She dropped her hand, holding Jean’s fingers tightly, and grinned at her, a smile as hard as diamond. “You up for another escape?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Jean replied. They didn’t have anywhere to go. Jean wouldn’t be allowed to just  _ bring _ the White Queen back to their base, and anywhere else Emma would be recognized and dragged back here again, again, again. 

That didn’t stop Emma from donning the disguise that Jean had brought, and it certainly didn’t stop the pair of them from stealing through the castle and out into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Drabble two for the fic week!  
> I'm on tumblr @scarletwix!


End file.
